Frictional Games recently announced that Amnesia: The Dark Descent is now in beta testing. The upcoming new adventure horror title from the creators of the Penumbra series has been described as a title which will take players on a "thrill-ride through the depths of madness and explore the dark side of human emotions." It follows the tale of a protagonist on the run from a horrifying foe.

This means that the all needed assets are completed and that it is possible to play the game from start to finish. What is left now is just a bit of polish and minor additions. This does not mean that all is good and we can just relax though. The game is still rough around the edges at places and require quite a bit of work. However, we no longer have to worry about getting new things into the game. Now we can just focus on what is already there and make it as nice as we can.

It is quite astounding how far the game has gotten. We started out making the first proper content around two years ago, and since then the amount assets have just continued to grow. Looking through our project files I counted a total of:106 Music files1202 Model files1533 Texture files856 Sound filesThis was just a very rough calculation though so I have surely missed a few. Also, there is still stuff left to add, so we are not done just yet!

It is also worth noting that this does not mean that a demo will be out shortly. For that you have to wait a few more months I'm afraid.

Independent developer Simone Bevilacqua has released an update for BOH. The retro action game of exploration challenges players to travel through trap filled corridors, solve puzzles, and defeat enemies as they quest to find and defeat the Evil Masters. BOH now features 40 missions and 5 difficulty levels.

Update 12:

The previous update brought to surface a couple of nasty bugs, but with this update they will not show up anymore. But that's not all: the occasion has been seized also to raise the number of missions to 40 and to add a new translation!

BigDownload has posted a new interview with City of Heroes lead designer Melissa Bianco. The game developer discussed Going Rogue, the upcoming expansion for the super hero themed MMO, as well as future plans for the online game.

What other new features will be put into Going Rogue?Under the guidance of Matt "Positron" Miller, we're adding a teaser of the Incarnate System which is an end game content system for level 50s so that they can experience a whole new level of challenging game-play. We have four new zones that take place in Praetoria and with this new universe we're introducing some new mission map sets as well. We added four new power sets (Electric Control, Kinetic Melee, Demon Summoning, and Dual Pistols) which adds a new power set for each of the basic archetypes and we've done some serious upgrades to the Mission Architect system in the form of new maps, new mobs and a special new feature we introduced in Issue 17 in the form of doppelganger technology. The new alignment system and all the creativity and access that will provide is pretty exciting. Did I mention we are throwing in new costume sets, auras, and plenty of emotes? There is an even longer list of game-play features that will make the new missions more advanced and fun than you've ever seen in City of Heroes. That's just a taste of it, there's plenty more I'm probably forgetting.

After the expansion is released what plans are there for further free content updates?We have big plans for our free updates, actually. We intend to expand on the Going Rogue system in the form of additional missions (tip and morality), add more End Game zones and events, unlock more Incarnate Slots (though you will need to have the Expansion to play them), and continue to add content, costumes, power sets, and a few little things I have up my sleeve, which I will not tell you, even on pain of dismemberment.

Gamasutra recently posted comments from Valve Software's Erik Wolpaw about the upcoming Portal 2. Saying that he did not want to "resurrect a three-year-old meme," the developer promised new gameplay and an interesting story for the first person puzzler sequel.

Wolpaw said that, as a direct sequel, Portal 2 would revisit many elements of the original Portal, including its memorable antagonist GLaDOS, but that the team has been careful not to retread too much of the same ground. After all, the original Portal was received so well in part because it was such a surprise.

"The cubes are in there because they're a gameplay element, and obviously, GLaDOS is back, but there's a bunch of new gameplay and we want to tell an interesting new story," he said.

"We didn't jettison everything, but I absolutely do not want to try and resurrect a three-year-old meme. That seems like it would be kind of sad. It's not a good idea."

Inside Mac Games has posted new reviews of Eschalon: Book I and Book II, Basilisk Games' fantasy RPG titles inspired by classics of the genre. The recently released Book II continues the story of the original with the inclusion of improvements like re-rendered tiles, new weather effects, new skills, new monsters, and a larger world to explore.

Here's an excerpt from the Eschalon Book II review:

There aren't too many RPGs released with a turn-based battle system these days. With the current trend of action games with RPG elements continuing to blossom, they're slowly becoming a dying breed. Still, there's an inherent appeal to being able to spend minutes contemplating your next move, and it's nice to see games being released into this shrinking genre. Eschalon: Book II (EB2), a recent release from Basilisk Games, fills the void quite nicely.

Eschalon: Book II is a turn-based RPG from the Rogue sub-genre of RPGs. The world is set in a static time until you move, at which point everything else in the world moves with you. All combat is calculated off your character's stats using a percentage chance for you to hit and then a quick dice roll to determine damage if you hit. This is truly a classic-style RPG, and it's one of the best looking ones you'll find.